From the Pastor |
Easter Story from the Gospel of John
That morning was not a typical morning for Mary... But it turned out to be quite different from what she imagined when she woke up that day. In fact… I doubt she had imagined how much exercise she would be getting. It was so early in the morning that it was still dark outside as Mary made her way to the garden. She was grieving… heart-broken… I can only imagine that the weight of her sorrow made the journey a slow, arduous one. There was no excitement… no joy… no “skip” in her step… The grief was too deep. After all… she had been there… through it all. She was among the women who had followed Jesus throughout Galilee all the way to Jerusalem. She was there when he was nailed to a cross… She watched him suffer in anguish. She had stood with his own mother and had heard the words he spoke… she saw him breathe his last breath… She personally watched this man… the one who had saved her… the one she followed faithfully… the one she loved… die. Matthew tells us that she was among the women who stayed around after his death and watched as he was taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb. She was there when the tomb was sealed. Now… the Sabbath was over. Mary goes back to that place… to the garden where the tomb is located. BUT… when she arrives… things are not at all as she expected. The stone has been rolled away from the entrance and the tomb is empty. Jesus’ body is gone. She is so upset that John tells us… she RAN to find help. She ran to Peter and John “and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” They, in turn, take off running back to the tomb with Mary not too far behind. That is a lot of running so early in the morning. How often are we running? (and I am not referring to exercise) Think about it… we are living in an extremely fast paced society… we spend so much of our lives basically running… chasing our dreams… running from our fears… moving as fast as we can to get to the next level… the next success… the next chapter of our lives. We run toward things that bring happiness… we run from those things that scare us. Even our speech demonstrates just how fast we are moving… It is common to hear phrases like “I’m running to the store.” “I’m running some errands.” Even our thoughts are affected… “My imagination is running wild.” “My mind is racing.” I’m exhausted just thinking about it. We always seem to be running to … OR… running from something. We even spend a great deal of time running (like Jonah) from God… Yes… Even those of us who believe. We ignore God’s call to go… to do… and we run the other way. Not wanting to get involved… not wanting to go out of our way… not wanting to risk getting hurt or failing. Let’s face it… We spend a vast majority of our time… running… racing through life. That is why this past year hit many of us so hard. Living in a pandemic… living through extended lock-downs and quarantines… suddenly… we couldn’t keep running. We were forced to stop which means life changed for us in drastic ways. But maybe that is not such a bad thing. What happened when Mary stopped running? Stopped trying to ‘do’ things? After Peter and John left the tomb… Mary stayed behind. She was distraught… she did not know what to do. All she wanted was to know where Jesus was. It is then that she gets the greatest… most joyful surprise… She encounters Jesus… She sees him… Risen from the dead with her own eyes. She stopped running… she stayed there in the garden and her fears dissipated… her grief is turned to joy… she found what she was looking for and so much more. But receiving the news… obtaining that great joy was not the end for Mary… No! Jesus gives her an important job to do… “Do not hold on to me… Go instead to my brothers and tell them...” So she does as Jesus told her to do… she “went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them…” all he had said to her. Now… I bet you that if she was not running back to them with the news… she was moving pretty fast. She was filled with excitement and joy… nothing was gonna stop her from sharing this great Good News. So today… on this Easter Sunday… I want to encourage you to do two things. First… take some time to simply stop! Stop running… stop racing around… racing through the busy-ness of your day and simply be. Follow the words of Psalm 46 which instruct us to “Be still, and know that I am God…” [verse 10] Allow yourself to spend some time in the proverbial garden with the Lord. Give yourself the time needed to truly encounter Jesus. Let him remove your fears and your grief… your pain and your sorrow… and allow Christ to replace them with the joy of the resurrection. Then… think about why you are running so much of the time. What are you running to? What is the goal of your race? Is it success? Money? Or are you just chasing some unknown prize… trying to keep up with those around you? What are you running from? Is it your fears… your failures… your grief or shame? Are you running to the Risen Lord? This pandemic has thrown us all for a loop. We long for things to return to “normal”… but as Followers of Christ Jesus… “Normal” is not good enough. We weren’t created for normal. The Resurrection brings with it new life and transformation. We are not called to be ‘normal’… we are called to be better. To live as Christ lived… to love as Christ loved… to live our lives as Resurrection people… people who believe that we no longer have anything to fear. Because by the amazing grace and love of God… through Christ’s death and resurrection… death has been conquered and the doors have been thrown wide to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. We are called to run for God… not for the things of this world… We are to run with excitement and joy… not fear. All because “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16] Because of this glorious day we celebrate… we have nothing to fear… nothing to run from because the promises we heard from Isaiah have been fulfilled in Christ… the Risen Lord. And just like Mary… we have been given a wonderful task by our Lord… “Go and Tell…” For every disciple of Jesus… then AND now… is commanded to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [Matthew 28:19-20] Amen
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Yeon Shin
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